The Things We Do for Love (Will Be Your Downfall)
by AlldevilsAngels
Summary: Falling in love with Bella Swan, not only made him pathetic. It made him a babysitter, a café worker, a handyman, a chef, a confidant, and her bitch.


**The Things We Do for Love (Will Be Your Downfall)**

 **Summary: Falling in love with his Bella Swan, not only made him pathetic. It made him a babysitter, a café worker, a handyman, a chef, a confidant, and her bitch.**

 **Chapter One: I'll be there, and there is nothing, I won't do**

 _"I feel so used. I find I like it."_  
 _― J.D. Robb, Chaos in Death_

* * *

Jacob is fine. No one thinks that he is—because he's 20 years old, buys his clothes from the drift store, lives off TV dinners, junk food, take out, and he lives in one-bedroom apartment owned by a single mother who lets him be a little late on the rent in exchange for babysitting her daughter and working in her café —but he's fine.

He _is._

The apartment may be a little small but that's fine because he lives by himself and it's not like he has to worry about anyone coming over to stay or anything. His sister cut all contact with him after their father passed away when he was 18 years old. He sends the cards, and presents during the holidays but they never respond and if he calls they don't answer the phone. If he wants to know how they're doing, he just checks on Facebook. He sent them a friend request a year ago, he's still waiting for an answer.

So, a one bedroom apartment is good and it's not like he's in college or anything. He got his GED after his father got sick so that he could stay home and take care of him.

So, what if he found a lot of his furniture on the street on big garage day. Haven't you ever heard that one man's trash is another man's treasure?

Look, he knows that his life isn't exactly glamourous, but he could leave at any time. He could move back to Washington and live with one of his old friends that he knows are still in Forks.

But he doesn't.

 _Why?_

Because of Bella Swan.

Bella Swan; his landlady and the woman he was heads over in love with.

Yeah, pathetic.

It's not like she'd shown the slightest bit of interest in him.

She was beautiful. Soft, chocolate, doe-like brown eyes, fair skin, long brown hair, heart shaped lips, and her smile—

 _God, her smile_.

He'd only seen it aimed at daughter, Rosalinda, but it still took his breathe away. And apparently falling in love made him Bella's bitch.

 _You don't believe him?_

Jacob groaned, waking up to the sound of his phone ringing.

"H-Hello?" he said, sleepily.

"I need you to open the café for me," Bella said, without greeting, and Jacob rubbed his eyes.

"What? Why?" he asked, closing his eyes and falling back on his pillow.

"Rosalinda isn't feeling well," Bella said, and Jacob was wide awake.

"Is she okay?" he asked, concerned.

"She has a fever and she's crying." Bella explained, "I'm going to take her to the hospital,"

"Okay, I'll just—" Jacob started, but Bella hung up, conversation over, "…go set up the café,"

Yeah, he was whipped.

Jacob swore under his breath, rolled out of bed, and stumbled to the bathroom. He took a shower, letting cold water run on him for a minute to wake him up, before quickly turning on the hot. He brushed his teeth in the shower, got out, dried off, and threw on some clothes.

Then he made his way downstairs to the café. He turned on the radio, blasting music to keep him awake, while he checked the dough in the bread maker and took the butter and eggs out of the fridge. Jacob put on an apron, washed his hands and wiped down all the kitchen surfaces, like Bella told him. After washing his hands again, he emptied the dough out of the bread maker and divided it into even portions, massage the dough, arrange it on a floured baking tray, and shoved the tray into the proving draw under the oven.

As he washed his hands again, he thought of how much of a sucker he was. This was the 12th time she'd had him set up shop. If Bella didn't love Rosalinda so much, Jacob would think she was lying to get a little down time.

He pulled ingredients and equipment out of cupboards and made up a batch of scones, singing along to the music while he worked.

He divided the dough, making scones, cookies, bread, and muffins. Then he cleaned down the counter, sterilized everything, and then started making soup.

He pulled out the vegetables that Bella had already chopped the night before and mixing them in the soup. He covered the pan and left it to simmer, while he preheated the oven. He grabbed the cakes from the cooler, glad that Bella had already made them.

He sighed, wiping his brow, before going to fill out the traceability report. He wrote down the date, product codes for every ingredient used and where the ingredient was sourced, of course he had to check out the other book that Bella kept with that information in them, making the task take longer than it should've.

He washed, _again,_ then took off his apron, hanging it on the back of the door, before heading to the front of the café to clean up. He mopped the floors, wiped down the counters, watched the dishes, wiped down the coffee machine, checked the stocks of cutlery and paper cups. Then he set out jugs, portafilters, the knock box where the spent coffee grounds were stored, and the filter coffee maker.

He took in the smell of coffee and grinned, proud of himself.

He went back into the kitchen, put on his apron, washed his hands again, and put one of the breads in the oven. Then he moved the soup to one of the two cauldrons set up on the counter next to the panini press. Took the remains of yesterday's soup out of the chiller and poured it into the second cauldron and sets the temperatures for them. Took out one of the breads and put in another.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he read the text from Bella asking if he had everything set up. He replied that he does and she answered that she'll be there in 10 minutes.

He knows that 10 minutes for Bella is code for another hour, _at least_ , so he set out ingredients and chopping boards, making sandwiches, tucking them into cardboard and cellophane packaging and took them out to the display cabinet. Then he took chairs off tables, sorted out the daily papers, stocked the display cabinet with the cakes, cookies, and scones, before setting out individual packets of butter and single servings of jam,

He washed his hands again and was writing out the daily specials on the blackboard when Bella showed up, carrying a tired looking Rosalinda in her arms.

"Morning, Bella," Jacob said, giving her a weary smile, and Bella nodded in greeting, putting down her daughter, "Morning, Rose, how are you feeling?"

"I don't feel good," Rosalinda whined, looking at him with glassy eyes.

"Oh, that's too bad," Jacob said, sympathetically, glancing at Bella, who was taking off her jacket and tucking it under the counter.

"Can you watch her for me?" Bella asked, as she twisted her hair into a bun, pinning it in place with a pencil and put on her apron.

"Um…I have a job interview this afternoon, and—" Jacob started, and Bella gave him a look.

"Please?" she asked, tucking a notepad and pen into the apron pocket, "Just until the café closes?"

"It took me weeks to land this interview and I—" Jacob protested, but Bella brushed by him, kissing her daughter on the forehead, then heading to the kitchen to get the stuff out of the oven.

Jacob lead Rosalinda to a table.

"Can you wait here, while I talk to your mom?" Jacob asked, and Rosalinda nodded.

"Can I have some juice?" she questioned, giving him those sad brown eyes, and Jacob nodded.

"Sure, sure," he said, heading into the kitchen.

Bella was putting in the next pan, not even glancing up.

"Bella, you're going to have to find someone else," he said, firmly, heading to the fridge to get the sick five-year-old a juice box.

"There is no one else," Bella said, looking much older than just 24 years old, "She's too sick to go to school and she loves you. She's tired and she'll probably sleep the whole day anyway,"

"Fine," Jacob conceded, giving up.

He knew he was being a pushover. He really needed that job, but here he was, cancelling another job interview to play babysitter.

Jacob had heard the story. Bella married her boyfriend Edward as soon as she graduated high school, and got pregnant shortly afterward, kids were never a part of the guy's plan, so he turned into an asshole. Bella had a difficult pregnancy, was sick, and Edward tried to force her to get an abortion. He walked out after an argument in the doctor's office and never came back. Bella received her annulment papers in the mail, and went through the rest of her pregnancy alone. Edward's father felt bad for her because his son was a dickwad, and wrote her a check to make up for it. Bella used the money to buy the apartment building/café.

Edward had been kind of a possessive jerk and Bella had burned a lot of bridges to marry him, turning her back on family/friends until all she had left was him…and then he abandoned her and her child.

He didn't know how anybody could not love Rosalinda. She was one of the cutest children he had ever seen with high-cheekbones, perfect eyebrows, straight nose, strong jawline, curly brown hair ringlets that fall past her waist, chocolate brown eyes, pink rosy cheeks, and a cute dimpled smile.

Jacob doesn't know how he could possibly be Bella's only option, he knew that he wasn't exactly the friendliest looking person; 6-7, heavily muscled with a tattoo, leather jacket, and a motorcycle. Most people moved to the other side of the street when he walked past them, and yet Bella trusted him enough to live in her apartment building and watch her 5-year-old.

Jacob snuck one of the cookies off the pan, while Bella's back was turned, and went to take Rosalinda her snack.

"Hold on," Bella said, following him out of the kitchen, and Jacob cringed, thinking she caught him, but she went to grab her purse off the table.

"Here are the keys to our apartment and Rosalinda's medicine," Bella explained, holding out the items to him.

Jacob nodded, passing Rosalinda her juice box, sneaking her the cookie under the table, before turning back to Bella and taking the stuff.

"Okay, see you later, sweetie," Bella kissed her daughter, giving her a hug, then walked passed Jacob without a word.

She didn't even thank him for setting up.

Jacob was an idiot.

Rosalinda shoved her cookie in her mouth, taking his hand in hers.

"Come on, Rose," Jacob said, leading the girl to the stairs.

"Make sure to feed her something!" Bella called from the kitchen, "And help yourself,"

Jacob kept walking, thinking of excuses he could use for why he had to miss his interview. Jacob picked Rosalinda up, and carried her up the stairs to Bella's apartment. He got her settled at the kitchen table, while he made breakfast—for both of them because he didn't get to eat— and then they sat in front of the television to watch The Amazing World of Gumball, while they ate.

Jacob turned the television off afterwards, because Bella didn't like her daughter watching too much of it and they went in her room to play with her toys until it was time to take her medicine. Then Rosalinda took a nap, while Jacob tried to reschedule his interview, but it was a lost cause.

Jacob made grilled cheeses for lunch, because they were Rosalinda's favorite, then they had a tea party with her stuffed animal. Then they watched Frozen and Tangled, and he got into an argument with a 5-year-old about which one was better.

Then he had to leave the room to reflect on the fact that he had seen those movies so much that he had a favorite.

It was a hard hit for his manhood…but he didn't care because Tangled was obviously the better choice. So, he went back in the living room to continue arguing.

"Look, all I'm saying is that Tangled had a much better plot, and Flynn is a better love interest then Kristoff and—" Jacob tried, but Rosalinda had covered her ears.

"Let it go, let it go~" she sang loudly, and Jacob pouted.

"That's not even a real argument," he growled, crossing his arms.

"Let it go, let it go~" Rosalinda replied, and Jacob turned off the television.

Then Rosalinda got her Elsa doll and Jacob grabbed her Rapunzel doll, and they had them duke it out.

Then Jacob cleaned up the mess, and cooked spaghetti for dinner, making enough for 3 people, while Rosalinda set the table.

"I love you, Jake," she said, afterwards, "I wish you could live with us,"

"Love you too, kiddo," Jacob said, giving her a hug, "Now go get cleaned up for dinner,"

"Kay!" Rosalinda said, running off.

The two of them ended up eating dinner alone, Bella texted him an hour after closing time to let him know that she had some errands to run. She didn't even ask if he minded watching her daughter and Jacob just wrapped up Bella's plate, putting it in the fridge.

He got Rosalinda ready for bed and read her Alice in wonderland. Then, once she was asleep, he tucked her in, kissed her on the forehead, and plugged in her nightlight. Jacob turned off her bedroom light, and left her door open just a little, in case she woke up.

Then he sat on the couch reading one of Bella's books—Wuthering heights—until Bella came home.

Bella knocked on the door a little after 11. Jacob opened the door for her and found her holding a bag of groceries, a bag of clothes, and a giant stuffed pink elephant. Jacob took the bags from her.

"Is Rosalinda asleep?" Bella asked, without thanking him, closing the door behind him, "She said she wanted a stuffed pink elephant and customer said that they had one in Kmart, so I—"

Jacob just let Bella babble, putting away groceries, and glancing over his shoulder at her. Her hair was a mess, and her eyes were rimmed red and puffy.

Bella had a habit of buying toys for Rosalinda whenever something upset her.

A phone call from Edward's family?

Rosalinda gets a dollhouse.

The sink in the kitchen bursts, putting her out of business for a week?

Rosalinda gets a Tea set.

Her father, Charlie calls to ask how she's doing?

Rosalinda gets a Disney princess dress and a tiara.

"What happened?" Jacob asked, and Bella's shoulders slumped, her eyes filling with tears.

"Rosalinda's school kicked her out because she missed to many days," Bella said, "It was the only school close enough to the café. I could just close shop for thirty minutes and go pick her up, like taking a lunch break. Now I'm going to have to find her another one, and Alice said—"

No good sentence ever started with 'Alice said…'

"She can get Rosalinda into boarding school, because apparently all the Cullens send their kids to boarding school at this age, which is why they're all so smart, and successful. And she is a Cullen, despite having my less than glamorous genes and I'm keeping her from being great!" Bella sat on the couch and laid her head in her hands.

Jacob hesitantly sat beside her, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"You're a good mother, Bella," he said, softly, and Bella shrugged his hand off her shoulder.

"You should be heading home," Bella said, curtly, wiping her face, "Did Rosalinda give you any trouble?"

"She was no trouble at all," Jacob stated, as he scooted away, giving her space.

"Good, good," Bella nodded, folding her hands in her lap.

"I made Spaghetti for dinner," Jacob said, standing up and heading to the kitchen, so he could warm up Bella's plate, "And I think Life as We Know It is on,"

He personally thought the movie was crap, but he knew Bella was into that kind of stuff. Bella turned on the television, taking off her shoes, while Jacob grabbed her food and a fork.

When he turned around, he found Bella passed out, curled into a ball on the couch.

Jacob sighed, rewrapping the food, and putting it on the table. Then he turned off the television, picked Bella up and carried her to her room. He covered her up with her blanket, and sat on the edge of her bed.

"Good night, Bella," he said, brushing her hair out of her face, and pressing a kiss to her temple, "I love you,"

He got up and turned off her light, leaving her door cracked, so she would be able to hear when Rosalinda woke up. He put the plate back in the fridge and let himself out.

He wasn't Bella's friend. He was her tenant. Bella would never spend time with him by choice; she had a café/apartment to run and a daughter to look after.

He went back to his apartment, picked up the guitar he'd brought for 10 bucks from the homeless man in the park, and started strumming a few bars _._

 _"_ _Same bed but it feels just a little bit bigger now…_

 _My song on the radio but it doesn't sound the same._

 _Whenever you call, all it does is just tear me down._

 _Cause my heart breaks a little when you say my name_

 _It all just sounds like ooh, ooh ooh hoo hoo._

 _Mm, too young, too dumb to realize  
That I'll never buy you flowers  
or hold your hand  
I'll give you all my hours  
Though I have no chance  
Never go to a party or get to ask you to dance_

 _Instead I'm just going to wonder about if I was your man,"_

Jacob laughed, setting down his guitar, and laying back on his couch.

He was the most pathetic man on the planet.

* * *

 **Author's note: Please review and let me know what you think.**


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